You found me
by Iliveforwriting
Summary: Amy is 22 years old when she decides to end her life. In the failed attempt of suicide, she is found by Merc, a retired runner. Amy decides to become a runner and finds that she can escape her old life. She also finds that she may have feelings for Merc.
1. Chapter 1

Numbness… she found that her life was no longer hers, along with every choice and decision that she was faced with, all of that was no longer under her control. Each day she awoke to a life she didn't know any longer, and each moment of it she stared through somebody else's eyes… or at least it seemed that way now.

She was sick of it, so tired of being out of control of what should be "her" life, and "her" decisions. It was darker now, the sun had slipped behind a tall building in its decent from the sky, causing a long dark shadow to be cast across the rooftop she now stood on. Making her way to the edge, she convinced herself that nobody cared, nobody loved her, and that nobody would miss her.

She peered down at the alley below. Dark, empty, much like the way she felt. She never used to be like this, no, she was once full of life, very much alive, but now she felt dead, a part of her had died, and she had never been the same. Her life was just too much to bear anymore. She took a half step forward, looking toward the sky, she sighed and held her breath as she took one final step forward.

The air rushed in her ears as she fell, closing her eyes, she prepared for the pain that was sure to come.

Suddenly a face flashed before her eyes, someone she hadn't thought about in a very long time, somebody she had shut out of her life, someone she loved and that she was pretty sure still loved her, and she was sure didn't want her to end her life. She felt a sudden pang of regret and she opened her eyes. She looked up when suddenly her silver necklace caught on a pipe on the side of the building she had just jumped off of. All she felt was searing pain as the necklace cut into her neck, bruising it and leaving her gasping and gagging. She clawed desperately at her necklace as she dangled helplessly from the pipe. Tears formed in her eyes when the necklace suddenly snapped, causing her to fall only about 4 or 5 feet down before she landed on her back, knocking the wind out of her, or what wind she had left.

She lay there gasping, her oxygen-starved lungs desperately searching for air. Her vision blurred with tears as she cried silently to herself.

'I don't want to die… not now… not like this…' she thought to herself. She was scared now, terrified of the pain of dying. She expected to die quickly, with no pain and no suffering. Her vision was blurry and she felt her body slowly relaxing. She didn't want to die, not now…

He nimbly leapt down from the rooftop he was running on, gliding through the air he landed and stumbled.

'Damn, I keep forgetting that I'm not as young as I used to be…' he thought. He walked over to the ledge of the building and dropped onto a platform that was just below him. He looked down and saw a body. He immediately saw a body. He froze; it looked to be a young woman. He rushed down the stairs and jumped. Grabbing a pipe he slid down until he was close enough to jump to the ground. He walked over to the woman who lay sprawled out on the pavement before him. He noticed that her neck was bruised and had several cuts. She was gasping and he noticed that tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her brown hair was draped over her face slightly. He walked closer and kneeled down, he noticed her vision was unfocused. She suddenly looked to him, just noticing that he was there.

"P-please… I don't… want to die…" she gasped. She was fighting to stay conscious, and each moment she grew weaker and weaker. He saw her wince as a wave of pain hit her. He felt his heart sink, but he noticed, that even in her state, her eyes burned with a sudden will to live, a sudden hope… he realized that she was looking at him that way, like… _he _was her hope.

He scooped her up ever-so-carefully, causing her to groan.

"Sorry…" he mumbled. As he looked down at her, his eyes met her brown ones.

"What's your name?" he asked quietly, trying to calm her with a soothing voice.

"Amy… my name's… Amy…" she whispered softly. He nodded.

"I'm Mercury… but you can call me Merc."

"That's a nice name…" she whispered. He couldn't help but smile. Amy groaned again as a wave of pain swept over her once more. He quickened his pace as she gripped his shirt tighter.

"It's going to be okay Amy… it's going to be okay…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Three Years Later…**

**______________________**

Faith found Merc, once again, typing furiously at his monitors and swearing to himself.

"Merc, if you don't relax your gonna break the keyboard…" she laughed seeing his pissed expression.

"Dammit Faith! She's gone running off without her intercom again! How many times have I told her to stay in touch with us??" he growled. Faith walked over to the couch and plopped herself down, staring at her gloved hand.

"Hmmm… let's see, it's got to be around 76 times by now…" Merc's only response was more cursing and a frustrated growl. "Why do you worry so much? You know you should really trust her more…" Merc took a deep breath.

"It's not that I don't trust her, it's those damn blues that I don't trust! I don't have to worry about you or the other runner's as much because you all remember your damn intercoms!" he leaned back in his chair and took another deep breath. "Damn why is she so much trouble…" he exasperated.

"Well I'm so glad you feel that way!" came a sarcastic voice from above them. Merc shot up just in time to see Amy jump through the vent in the ceiling and land softly next to Faith and him.

"Where the hell were you??" Merc asked.

"Geez you're pissed… I was just getting some fresh air…"

"Without your intercom again?" he hissed holding up her earpiece.

"Hey sorry, I don't like getting interrupted…" she sighed. Merc just looked at her. Her smile faded at his annoyed expression. "Fine…fine… sorry…" she said grabbing her earpiece and putting it in her pocket.

"Just try to remember I've told you 78 times!"

"76 times…" Faith cut in.

"Whatever!" Merc grumbled walking over to grab a cup of coffee. Amy sat down next to Faith who just looked at her and smiled.

"You're gonna kill me one of these days you know that?" Merc warned under his breath.

"Has he really warned me 76 times?" Amy asked in a whisper.

"Actually, 77 times, but he doesn't know that, does he…" Faith whispered back, a smile on her face. Amy just laughed.

While they had been whispering, Merc had walked back to his chair and had sat down.

"Faith, I've got a job for you." He began as he stared intently at his computer screen. "A man down in the lower part of the city wants us to deliver a message to this address…" Faith took the folded piece of paper with the address from Merc's outstretched hand and looked at it.

"Got it…" she answered as she picked up the yellow tube the message was stored in. She grabbed her yellow and black runner's message bag, grabbed her earpiece, and was off.

"She sure as hell remembers her intercom…" Merc teased. Amy groaned and fell back so that she lay outstretched across the couch. Merc chuckled at her childish behavior. She merely stuck her tongue out at him. She folded her arms behind her head and stared at the ceiling. Merc sighed.

"Amy… it's not like I enjoy yelling at you…"

"When am I gonna be able to go on an actual job?" she asked quietly, suddenly growing very serious. Merc paused, confused by her sudden change of attitude.

"You know why I can't do that right now… Amy…?"

When she didn't respond he got out of his chair and sat at the very end of the couch. "Amy…" he said. She sat up and walked over to the wall and stared out of the vents.

"Yeah… I know…" she whispered softly.

"I can't send you out alone when your father is still sending blues all over the place looking for you." Amy looked at Merc.

"He's not going to stop until he gets bored of the publicity or has a change of heart… both doubt will ever happen…"

"Maybe, but I doubt the city will let him keep up this search much longer… he may be in a high rank in the CPF but he ain't that powerful…" Merc frowned as she just stared outside, her eyes were clouded and unfocused as she revisited her past.

"I'm sorry Amy…" he said as he walked back to his chair. A moment later he turned around to see that Amy was gone. He groaned.

'I tell her it's dangerous and she runs off again!' he thought. In a way it reminded him of himself… and he couldn't help but smile.

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**A/N: Sorry, I know this chapter doesn't have much action other than Merc yelling, (lol) but I just kind of needed this chapter to get the story going. I know Merc needs to take a chill pill, but believe me he won't be so bad (or at least this much) in later chapters. I'm just showing that he cares and is a bit over-protective of Amy. I also needed this chapter to show a bit of Amy's personality. She's stubborn at times, normally positive, although she can easily be upset, but hey she's had a rough past. Anyway, you'll learn more about the characters in the further chapters! Hope you guys like it so far and please leave your comments/reviews because I'm always overjoyed to see your thoughts on my work!**

**Thanks again everyone!**

**Chapter three will be up before you know it!! :D  
**


	3. Chapter 3

"He's gonna kill me, he's totally gonna kill me!" Amy hissed as under her breath as she dashed from rooftop to rooftop. She had completely lost track of time, all she knew was that it had been dark a very long time now. She had wandered too far, lost track of time, and now she was so screwed. She was already thinking of a possible excuse to use against Merc to calm him even slightly.

As she was sprinting, she heard a chopper and instinctively hid. She watched as it passed over her and flew away, growing smaller and smaller. She remembered when her father used to work with chopper's everyday with his job, and how he had used to bring her to work with him. She would always watch in awe at her father work with and pilot the chopper's, sometimes even letting her sit on his lap. He would just laugh, back then she had always seen her father as some sort of hero… That was back when he cared though, she had still been very young, but he didn't cared anymore, he had stopped caring a long, long time ago.

She snapped back to the present and, remembering she was very, very late, she broke out into a full out sprint. She felt like she had when she had only been nine years old. She had come home later than she had promised after playing at a friends house. Her father had yelled, and she remembered running up to her room, crying to herself all alone. Her mother had come up later, with a mug of hot chocolate and a soft smile upon her lips. She ad hugged her while she cried, whispering softly, "It's okay Amy… it's okay…" And her mother's hot chocolate had always worked wonders on people… it could cheer anybody up, it had never failed with her.

Her heart grew heavy as she thought of her mother, and how things had used to be. She soon found herself at Merc's lair. Ah yes, the beautiful sight of the gutted out cooling tower… She now found herself debating whether she should face Merc or not. She finally made the decision to go inside, it would be better now than later, and she didn't want to worry him any longer. She dropped inside from the vent in the roof and landed as quietly as possible. She just stood there as Merc turned around, stood, and crossed his arms… just like her father had that night, she felt her throat seize up.

"Well? What's your excuse this time?" he said, trying to sound calm, although she could tell he was not too far from snapping.

"I…" she began, trying to think of her ideas she had come up with along her way back. None of them came to mind, her mind was completely blank. The only thing that did come to mind were the exact words she had said to her father, years before.

"I…I'm sorry…" she whispered, she could feel her eyes dampen at the dark familiarity of the moment, her father yelling and cussing suddenly popped into her head.

"Amy…" Merc breathed, "I'm am so sick of hearing your excuses, your reasons that you're late, or why you forgot to bring your earpiece along _**again…**_ Why do you do this to me Amy? Do you even know what time it is??"

Amy just stood there, unable to speak, let alone breathe… she shook her head.

"It's three in the morning! THREE! I told you to be back before it got dark, which would be about, let's see, 9:30, 10 at the lastest!! Where were you?!"

Amy found herself unable to form words.

"Well?" he asked, his voice rising. Faith, who had been sitting behind Merc, tried to intervene.

"Merc—" she began, Merc silenced her by continuing his conversation as if she wasn't there.

"Where the hell were you Amy!?"

Her mind flashed back to the night she had come home late, and suddenly she heard her father's voice.

"_Where the hell were you? HUH? You gonna tell me you little SHIT?!?"_

She snapped back as she heard Merc ask, "Amy? Are you even listening to me??" He walked closer, but then he stopped. "Amy? Are you crying?" She hadn't even realized she was crying, but nevertheless, she felt the hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Merc suddenly looked much calmer. He reached out for her arm, but, wiping her eyes, she backed away.

"NO! And just shut up!" she cried. "Just shut up! You don't understand!! You don't understand anything!! You can't even take the time to se what's wrong, or maybe why I leave so much!! If you really cared I would know!!!" She shoved him out of the way and burst out the door, slamming it behind her. Merc stood there in shock.

"Merc…?" Faith asked. He looked at her, a confused expression on his face. Faith paused. "She never told you… did she…?" Merc's reply was an even more puzzled expression on his face. Faith sighed. "Merc, Amy is gone all the time because she NEEDS to be alone… with her mother…" Merc still looked confused. "…With her mother's… grave…" Merc felt his heart sink.

"What?" he asked. Faith just shook her head.

"Do you want me to go talk to her…?" she offered. Merc stared at the ground, then shook his head.

"No, I think I should…"

Faith nodded, and Merc took a deep breath before stepping out the door…

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**A/N: I hope you like! I TOLD you chapter 3 would be up really soon and here it is!!! MWA HAHAHAHA!!!... ahem... whoops... anyway, I am again sorry for the totally action lacking chapters, but I just thought you needed a bit more background on Amy and her past. (and don't worry Merc {I SWEAR} won't be so grumpy and yelly and stuffs as he has been in these chapters... I'm just trying to show that he really cares about Amy...) Speaking of which the (ROMANCE) part of this whole story is coming as Merc and Amy realize that... (dramatic music plays) they MAY be falling for eachother... *GASPS* Haha, anyway I really hope you like the story so far and I'll update as soon as possible!! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Amy sat on the ledge of the building, her legs dangling off the edge as she stared up into the sky, searching for the stars, although only a few very bright stars shone through the city's bright lights. A soft breeze blew past her, and she listened to the sounds around her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to calm down from her little breakdown just minutes ago.

She hated it when Merc got so angry at her, and recently he'd been upset with her very often, of course, it was _her_ fault. She didn't mean to make him worry, she just always lost track of time when she ran off like that. She opened her eyes and looked next to her. A small pebble lay on the ground, she grabbed it and examined it, she then outstretched her hand, and, opening her closed fist, she dropped it off the roof to the ground far below.

"Amy…?"

She barely heard him, she just continued to look down at the ground below her. After a long silence, she heard him clear his throat, trying to break the awkward silence. "Can I join you?" he asked. She shrugged.

"I guess…" was her reply. She heard him step forward, then out of the corner of her eye she saw him sit down next to her. He just sat in silence, watching her.

"If you're going to yell at me just get it over with…" she mumbled. He shook his head slowly.

"I don't want to yell at you Amy…" he whispered. "I just want to talk…" he glanced at her arm that had a piece of her shirt tied tightly around it. "Amy—" he began.

"I just had a little run in with the blues, that's all…" she said. Merc sighed and just went to reach for her arm, but she quickly moved away.

"How deep is it…?" he asked. She glared at him.

'How dare he try to help me! He's the one who was just yelling my fucking head off!!' she thought. Her mind screamed at her to stay as far from him as possible, but she suddenly felt a pang of sympathy as she saw the hurt expression he wore as she glared at him. She exhaled and sat back down.

"It's just a scratch…" she mumbled. He went to remove the scrap of clothing when Amy flinched away again. Merc just chuckled and shook his head.

"What are you ticklish?" Amy smiled a little and finally let him glance at the cut. "You're lucky it's not deep… what's this from…?"

"A gunshot… cops are terrible shots…" she smiled. Merc just groaned.

"Amy, I swear…" he growled, then he calmed down. "This is why I warn you… did they know who you were? Did they see your face??" Amy shook her head.

"No, they didn't. Stop worrying so much…" Merc sighed.

"I can't help it… if anything ever happened to you—" he stopped short, Amy looked at him, a confused expression on her face. Merc looked lost. "If anything ever happened to… any of my runners…" he corrected himself, looking a little pale, "I don't know how I could handle it, all of you are my family…" Amy looked down at her hands. Merc looked at her cut again. "Let me get you a better bandage… be right back…" he said quickly before rushing back inside. Amy looked at her cut, then back to her hands.

Merc returned moments later with disinfectant, and some bandage. He applied the disinfectant, which stung, causing Amy to bite her lip.

"Sorry… I know that stuff stings…" he mumbled as he began wrapping the bandage around her arm. Amy looked up from her hands at Merc.

"Remember that night you found me…?" she asked quietly. He nodded sadly.

"How could I forget…" he whispered. Amy looked back to the ground far below her.

"I had every intention to kill myself that night… but… once I was actually there, on the ground… fighting for every breath…" she shuddered at the dark memory. "I didn't want to die…" she felt tears welling up in her eyes as another thought came to mind. "I remember seeing my mom's face… as I was falling… she was so sad…" she wiped her eyes as her vision began to grow blurry.

"Just before I hit the ground… my necklace got caught on a pipe. At the moment I was sure I was going to die there, but my necklace snapped at the last moment. It was that necklace that probably saved my life…" She looked up at Merc again, who was sitting next to her, a serious expression on his face, he sat there, listening intently.

"It was my mom's necklace… she gave it to me when I was six… and…" tears began spilling over as she began to cry. "she died when I was only ten… I never even got to say goodbye…" her voice died as she began sobbing uncontrollably. Merc wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into his chest. Merc rest his chin on her head and gently rocked her back and forth.

"Sshh… it's okay Amy… it's okay…" he whispered again and again. She buried her face in his shirt and continued to cry. All was silent between them, and soon, Merc noticed Amy's breathing slow, and deepen. He looked down to see that she was fast asleep in his arms. He sat there a while longer before finally picking her up and carrying her inside.

He stepped inside to see that Faith had crashed on the couch. He glanced at the clock to see that it was 5:09 in the morning. He opened the door to the separate room he had made for Faith and Amy when Amy first became a part of the runners. Faith and Amy shared it, but Faith normally crashed on the couch instead. He lay her on her bed and pulled the covers over her. Then he just stood there for a moment, looking at how peaceful she looked. He just smiled before kissing her forehead, walked out, softly closing the door behind him.

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**A/N: Yep, there's chapter 4 for you! I really hope you liked it. I know the chapters haven't been very exciting, but there's more action later on I swear!! By the way, is Merc developing feeeeeelings for Amy??? GASP!!! The only way to find out is to keep reading! Hope you continue to read my story!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5 is coming very soon!  
**


	5. Chapter 5

She didn't want to move, didn't want to open her eyes. Her body was a bit tired and sore, but she felt somewhat lighter, happier. She assumed that last night's venting had been good, she had been building up emotions for quite some time. She heard the wind blowing across the vents of the cooling tower, peeking out of one of her eyes; she realized she lay in her bed. She decided to lie down; it had been quite some time since she had felt this relaxed.

For a long time she lay there, the sun shining through the vents, warming the soft covers, for a moment, she felt as though she were in paradise. The obnoxious buzzing of cars and city life even seemed slightly softer, she sighed as she opened her eyes.

'I wonder how long I slept…' she thought as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. 'Better get up before Merc comes charging in here…' She went over to her desk-like dresser and looked in the mirror. She looked rested, not as tired as she had the past few weeks. She grabbed her brush and began combing her hair. She glanced at it, the little pink brush with a little red heart on the back.

She remembered how her hair always got so tangled when she was little. She had always let it grow way too long. Her mother always sang to her as she worked patiently to get the tangles and knots from her long mess of hair. She brushed her hands over the red heart.

"Mom…" she whispered softly. She remembered that Merc was most likely waiting for her and quickly finished getting ready for the day before opening her door and walking out into the main room of Merc's "lair." She saw that Faith was gone, and Merc was as usual sitting in his chair in front of his monitors. Amy sighed and quietly walked over to him. He turned around and looked at her, he looked tired.

"Amy…" he whispered groggily. "How are you feeling?" She looked at him. Then smiled.

"I feel fine… you don't look so great though." She smiled playfully. He smiled at seeing the old Amy.

"What? You don't like the grubby look?" he asked. She giggled.

"Well you've got a major 5 o'clock shadow going on." He frowned.

"Do I really need to shave?" Amy wasn't even listening; she threw herself on the sofa and began staring at her shoes. For a runner, they were way too underused. She sighed. Merc chuckled. Amy looked up from her shoes.

"Do I bore you that much?" he asked. Amy gave him a sarcastic glance.

"Do you want the truth?" she teased.

"Depends, which is better?"

"You don't bore me at all Merc, in fact you're so much fun to stare at all day, typing away…"

"I knew I couldn't take you seriously…" Merc muttered. He grabbed something from the desk and stood. Walking over to Amy he extended his arm. "Here." Amy stared at it as if it was going to bite her. She looked up at Merc, shocked.

"You… mean it?" she asked in no more than a whisper. He just nodded. She reached out and grabbed the yellow tube from Merc's hand. He put his hands in his pockets.

"I know how bored you are, and I'm sorry if I act as though I don't trust you. I just don't want to see you get hurt. Ya know?" he paused. "Anyway, that message needs to be delivered A.S.A.P so no dilly-dallying alright?" He stopped to stare into the gleaming eyes of Amy. She jumped up and threw her arms around him.

"OH THANK YOU! THANK YOU THANK YOU!" She cried, Merc froze at her sudden movement. Amy smiled as she put the tube in her bag and slung the bag over her shoulder. Merc coughed, and Amy turned.

"Just don't make me regret this… Amy…" he warned.

"Yeah, I know I know." Amy sighed almost whining. Amy groaned as she could tell he still didn't believe her. "Are you ever going to trust me?" she sighed. Merc just sighed heavily.

"It's not that I don't trust you. I just worry is all. Those blues are getting more violent everyday. Now they'll shoot a runner on sight. Nobody bothers with live hostages no more…" Amy walked over to him.

"Don't worry so much. I'll be fine." She reassured him. He looked at her, they're eyes met.

"You'd better hurry if you ever plan to get your ass there in time." He said, turning away quickly. Amy nodded, puzzled by Merc's sudden action. She turned and nearly leapt out of the door, leaving Merc behind to watch her go.

"Just be careful Amy… please…" Merc whispered, his cheeks just beginning to cool down and return to their normal color. He looked at one of the monitors, then sat back down. He sighed and patched Faith in.

"Hey Faith?" he called.

"What is it Merc?" came Faiths reply.

"I need to ask you a favor…" he looked out the door. "It involves Amy…"

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**A/N Oh wow, I cannot believe how long uploading this chapter took. I just got so busy. Words cannot describe how sorry I am. Anyway, enough of me being a suck up, again I'm sorry this took so long. I'm glad to be hearing from all of my readers, its so great when I get feedback for my stories. I hope you all are happy with where the story is going. I can assure you there will be more action very soon. Probably starting in the next chapter. Is anyone sensing some drama between Merc and Amy? *Gasps* you'll have to read and find out!**


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